HETERDAHL'S KON-TIKI THEORY — JONKER 541 



use of bark for cloth. The distribution of cotton, in his opinion, is a 

 still more obvious proof of his theory than that of the sweet potato 

 and the bottle gourd. These plants, he believes, must have been taken 

 to Polynesia by migrating South American Indians and not intro- 

 duced by Polynesians from a return voyage to Peru. Wliy should 

 Polynesians introduce cotton ? They were unaware of its use and did 

 not know how to spin. 



In the tetraploid cotton theory of Hutchinson, Silow, and Stephens, 

 however, one weak point exists. Their theory is based on the 

 direct introduction by man of Asiatic cotton into America followed 

 by its hybridization with some native American cotton. This hybrid- 

 ization happened only there. But these facts have never been proved 

 and it is doubtful if they can be proved. Therefore, it is quite mider- 

 standable that there are dift'erent opinions to explain such a situation. 

 Harland (1935, 1939) believes that the tetraploid cotton species origi- 

 nated in Polynesia during Cretaceous or early Tertiary times. Ac- 

 cording to him, Asiatic and American diploid species could have come 

 mto contact by a land bridge over a portion of the Pacific of which 

 the Polynesian Islands formed a part. Stebbins (1947) agrees with 

 this theory as to the age, but rejects the land-bridge hypothesis. Ac- 

 cording to him, the subtropical Eocene flora of North America con- 

 sisted of a mixture of Asiatic and American elements and here the 

 allopolyploids originated. From this center of origin they spread to 

 South America and Polynesia, and after the deterioration of the 

 climate they disappeared from North America. Merrill (1954) 

 strongly disagreed with the theory of Hutchinson, Silow, and 

 Stephens. To him a rather recent introduction of Asiatic species of 

 Gossypiwn into tropical America seemed more reasonable. He re- 

 jected the idea that civilized inhabitants of India traveled to America 

 and took with them only cotton, remarking (p. 338) : "In claiming and 

 inferring that early civilized man did introduce an Asiatic cotton 

 species to America, the simple fact that not a single Asiatic cultivated 

 food plant made the journey is overlooked; and food was infinitely 

 more important 2,000 to 3,000 years ago than cotton!" Merrill also 

 disagreed with the concept that the central Polynesian species Gos- 

 sypium taitense could be identical with the American G. hirsutum 

 var. punctatum. 



CaHca papaya L. is another cultivated plant mentioned by Heyer- 

 dahl, and according to him introduced into Polynesia before the 

 arrival of the Europeans. Its fruits are eaten by man and its juice is 

 used to heal wounds. Consequently, it is a species that could support 

 Heyerdahl's theory. In connection with this, Heyerdahl is quoting 

 from F. B. H. Brown (1935), asserted by him to be a leading author- 

 ity. On the other hand, Merrill (1954) , in reference to Brown's work 

 states: "What he claims is, in general, most acceptable to those who 



